Monday, May 13, 2013
The preliminary plan goes before the Prince George's County Planning Board on Thursday.
Prince George's County has moved once step closer to possibly getting its first Whole Foods last week when—in a report dated May 9—the Prince George's County planning staff recommended approval with conditions of the preliminary plan of the Cafritz property. The approval comes after a recent agreement between UMD and Calvert Tract LLC, in which the University of Maryland granted developers right-of-way to build a CSX bridge, now referred to as the J-crossing, across its property. In January, the planning board staff recommended disapproval of the Cafritz property preliminary plan after developers failed to meet several conditions. Among those was the condition requiring them to secure right-of-way to build across the CSX tracks. …
Monday, April 15, 2013
Developers have submitted both a preliminary site plan and a detailed site plan for review in May.
After repeated delays due to the developers’ failure to meet several conditions, the Cafritz development is scheduled before the Prince George’s County Planning Board again in May. Calvert Tract’s efforts to begin developing the 37-acre parcel of land in north Riverdale Park first ground to a halt back in January when the planning board staff recommended disapproval of the prelminary site plan. Following a letter from the American Center for Physic, it became clear the developers had established neither a location or a funding mechanism for a CSX crossing. Under the terms of the rezoning plan approved by the planning board, ground cannot be broken until this condition is met. Developers also failed to meet several other conditions, …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Members held off on assessing the developer's preliminary plan after it was temporarily put on ice.
The College Park City Council tabled discussion of the Cafritz project at Tuesday's worksession after the developer announced that it would temporarily withdraw its preliminary plan of subdivision from consideration. Attorney Chip Reed told the council that he had been unable to get a required letter of support from the American Academy of Physics (ACP) ahead of Thursday's Prince George's County Planning Board hearing. ACP owns property where Calvert Tract, LLC plans to build a road bridge spanning the adjacent CSX tracks—one of many conditions agreed to between the developer and neighboring towns. In a letter sent to the towns of College Park, University Park, and Riverdale Park, ACP President Beth A. Cunningham said that studying the …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The developer was unable to secure approval to build a CSX crossing on property belonging to the American Center for Physics.
After receiving a strongly worded letter from the American Center for Physics (ACP), Calvert Tract, LLC has decided to temporarily withdraw its preliminary plan of subdivision (PPS) from consideration by the Prince George's County Planning Board. “We were working very diligently to try to get a letter from the American Center for Physics before the hearing date consistent with one of the conditions of approval. Unfortunately we will not be receiving that letter from ACP before the [Jan. 17] hearing date," said Chris Hatcher on behalf of Calvert Tract, LLC, the owners of the Cafritz property. At last week's meeting, the Riverdale Park Town Council raised several concerns about the plan, the placement and funding of the bridge among them…
The developer's proposal fails to meet several conditions for passage, a new report finds.
Staff for the Prince George's County Planning Board are advising members not to approve the current preliminary plan of subdivision for the Cafritz project, arguing that the proposal fails to meet several conditions required for passage. The Prince George's County District Council authorized the rezoning of the Cafritz property from residential use (R-55) to mixed use (MUTC) in June, allowing for development of the 37-acre parcel of land to begin. Thursday's Planning Board hearing, where the Cafritz team will seek the green light for its preliminary plan of subdivision (PPS), marks the next major hurdle for Calvert Tract, LLC in developing the property. But in a report dated Jan. 10, planning staff recommended "disapproval" of the Cafritz …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The total reflects the cost of hiring attorney David Podolsky to represent the town in the development process.
The Town of University Park has spent more than $38,000 on legal fees since January to participate in the Cafritz development process, according to budget figures discussed at Monday night's council meeting. The total reflects the cost of retaining attorney David Podolsky, who has served as town's counsel on Cafritz-related matters since the beginning of the year. Suellen Ferguson, who normally represents both University Park and College Park, was sidelined by a conflict of interest when the two municipalities' councils voted differently on the rezoning plan. In cases where legal counsel is retained for development issues, Mayor John Tabori said, there are typically two to three days of hearings involved at the planning board and district …
Friday, July 20, 2012
The developer's rezoning plan cleared its final legislative hurdle last week.
In the gallery at right, you'll find a PDF of Zoning Ordinance No. 11-2012—otherwise known as the District Council's approval of the Cafritz rezoning plan. By a 7-2 margin, the developer's far-reaching proposal was approved by the council in substantial form on July 10 and formally enacted on July 12. After 30-plus hours of hearings and debate, members ultimately decided to adopt all of the conditions recommended by the Prince George County Planning Board, which were in turn based on agreements worked out between the Cafritz team and surrounding municipalities. (Read a full rundown of those conditions here.) Councilmembers Andrea Harrison (Dist. 5), Will Campos (Dist. 2), Ingrid M. Turner (Dist. 4), Derrick Leon David (Dist. 6), Karen R. …
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The project could still go before the district council for review.
Developers are a step closer to building a retail and student-housing complex at the current Maryland Book Exchange site. The Prince George’s County Planning Board approved the detailed site plan (DSP) Thursday morning, formally adopting a resolution stating that the project complies with applicable regulations. Although the board voted 4-1 on Jan. 19 to approve the DSP with conditions, the members still had to sign off on the exact language of the findings and conditions for the project. College Park City Attorney Suellen Ferguson said at a council meeting Feb. 7 that she anticipated the board’s approval, and she would prepare an appeal. The College Park City Council voted against the detailed site plan in January. An appeal would force …
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Monday, February 13, 2012
The planning board must sign off on the precise wording of its Feb. 2 approval before it heads to the District Council.
The Prince George's County Planning Department has released the final draft of its resolution recommending approval of the Cafritz rezoning proposal. Though the planning board conditionally backed the Cafritz application 4-0 on Feb. 2, members must sign off on the precise wording of their referral with the agreed-upon changes incorporated into the text. The latest draft will come before the board this Thursday, Feb. 16. Once finalized, the board's recommendation will be sent to the District Council, composed of the members of the Prince George's County Council. That body will accept new testimony and hold a separate public hearing before voting on the plan. A District Council hearing has yet to be scheduled, but Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon…
Thursday, February 2, 2012
After 15 hours of testimony and discussion, board members voted to back the hotly debated plan.
The Prince George's County Planning Board hearing on the proposed rezoning of the Cafritz property concluded on Thursday. Below is a recap of the discussion and vote. ------ 7:00 p.m.: APPROVED The motion carries, 4-0. The planning board has approved the Cafritz rezoning plan (or in official terms, "recommended approval of the rezoning application with compromise conditions by staff and applicant as modified at the hearing"). The application now heads to the District Council—composed of the members of the Prince George's County Council—for its vote. 6:45 p.m.: 'Exceptional, transparent, cooperative, deliberative' Board member Shuanise Washington calls the process "exceptional, transparent, cooperative, [and] deliberative," saying that the…
Really Not Here
9:17 pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013
East Campus would be a much better spot for mixed use development and a grocery store than half way down a hill with not transit let a lone real east west routes. more ›